fantasy races

[Johnny Angel]

I do realize that I could have bookmarked the thread, but I'm not always using the same computer, so, at the time, it was easier for me to just make the thread more visible so as to make it easier for me to find when I got back online.

I hadn't even noticed that others had commented on the thread since I bumped it... until now.

Originally Posted by Jerander

Twin-race:

What if, instead of a strict diurnal/nocturnal split, one of the twin-pair was tied to the sun-cycles (diurnal), and one was tied to the moon-cycles? Moon-cycles not being the same as nocturnal. Sometimes the moon is up during the day...That would aid intra- (inter-?) twin communication.

Are all males diurnal and all females nocturnal? Or vice versa? Or are some males diurnal, some nocturnal, and same for the females?

What if, instead of a strict male/female sex split, there was something else? Three biological sexes? Or one? Or what if the race were hermaphrodites? Or could switch sex at will?

I had considered a variety of things. At the moment, gender and time of activity aren't related. Some males are diurnal; some are nocturnal, and the same goes for females.

I had considered the moon idea, but I didn't want one type of the race to have any sort of advantage or disadvantage when compared to the other type. The idea being that both sides of the race would be equal. The other part of the idea was to encourage two twins to work together and to have a close bond.

I had considered moon phases, but I don't have the moon phases of the world I'm working on completely worked out yet. Other than what I've already said, the decision to give the race an even split was also a way to keep the idea simple and easy for me to keep track of as a GM as well as keeping it easy to keep track of for a player. It should be noted that the race views an eclipse as a very special event; during the right kind of eclipse, both types of the race can be active at the same time.

Originally Posted by Jerander

What about the fetal/birthing process for the twin-race?

Humans *tend* to have singles, but sometimes has twins, triples, etc...What about this twin-race? Are they *always* born as twins? Or sometimes do they have singles, triples, quads, etc.? How common are they? How does the race feel about them? What does alternate birth-numbers do to their empathic connection?

Can the twins ever be *co-joined*?

Right now, as written, they are always born as twins.

I suppose that other births are possible; however, a member of this race born as a single would be at a severe disadvantage. Not only would they have a portion of the day in which they would be vulnerable, they would also miss out on the mental and emotional connection which the twins normally have. I imagine that the birth of a single might be viewed as some sort of bad omen.

Nothing is set in stone at the moment, but I'm going to say that twins are virtually always born. Quads are rare, but not unheard of; in such a case a connection usually forms between each set of two - that is that two would have a connection; the other two would have a connection... they might collectively have a connection between all of them, but it wouldn't be quite as strong as the connection between a set. Singles (and other odd numbers) are the thing of myth and bedtime stories, but not impossible. Higher numbers than 4 would be very difficult due to the size which I imagine that this race is.

Co-joined twins would be possible, but extremely rare. I can't decide if such a thing would be considered a blessing or a curse though. On one hand it seems like it would be a curse because you'd have to quite literally drag around the innactive twin while you were awake. On the other hand, with the connection between twins viewed as something so special, I can imagine that being co-joined might be viewed as some sort of blessing due to creating an even closer connection than normal.

It had been asked if twins were fraternal or identical. This is a difficult question to answer. They would be identical in a sense. They would look the same as much as possible; however, in my mind, the diurnal type of the race would have features which mark them as such, and likewise for the nocturnal type of the race. What this means is that a set of twins would be identical, yet still look at least partially different due to diurnals having different markings than nocturnals.

Having a different set of genders is an interesting thought. Though I'm not entirely sure how I could reconcile having three types of sex with two types of the race already. That's not to say it can't be done; I'm sure it can be, but I think it would create something a little more complicated than what I'm currently looking at. Though if you want to alter my idea, by all means, go ahead. I'd be interested in seeing other visions of the idea.

[Johnny Angel]

While working on a batch of races for a space based game, I came up with an interesting idea which I haven't quite figured out how to model yet. The reason I'm posting it here is because a conversation with another forum-goer about the idea made me think the race might be better suited to fantasy.

The main schtick behind the race is that they have the Extra Life advantage. However, after death, they turn into a different form. Their physical form dies, but they live on as what I can only describe as a physical representation of the soul. The first form is humanoid in nature; the second form resembles something similar to a will-o-wisp.

My initial thought on how to model this was by using Extra Life and giving the race an alternate form with the limitation of "only after death." I wasn't sure what a good value to place upon that limitation would be though. I briefly toyed with the idea of using Unkillable, but that didn't produce the results I wanted.

While conversing about the idea, the idea arose that the feature would be similar to having a split personality, but manifested physically instead of mentally. The mentality and mind of the creature wouldn't change; only their physical form and body.

I'm not quite sure which way to go with this idea. I have a pretty good idea of the end result that I want, but I'm not entirely sure how to get there.

[jjgrey]

Originally Posted by Johnny Angel

......
Having a different set of genders is an interesting thought. Though I'm not entirely sure how I could reconcile having three types of sex with two types of the race already. That's not to say it can't be done; I'm sure it can be, but I think it would create something a little more complicated than what I'm currently looking at. Though if you want to alter my idea, by all means, go ahead. I'd be interested in seeing other visions of the idea.

Well you got me thinking and creating a race of hermaphromorph slightly split personality mini-elephants to wit the following:

Ellygems-
This race most resembles a two trunked mini wooly mamoths without tusks. They usually stand between 2 and 3 feet high at the shoulder the Night Males can occasionally get up to 4 feet tall. In extreme cases they can rise on to their hind legs and utilize their fore feet as very clumsy hands, but usually they use their two trunks in the place of hands. Their trunks bifurcate into four fingers per trunk which are as dextrous if a little weaker than human hands, they have a good but not great sense of smell and taste, and vision and hearing on par with humans.
The ‘two are one’ at birth Male in one aspect and Female in the other and with the rising and setting of the sun they switch places. Which is which isnt known until puberty. They are born with a twin of opposite aspect at most times. Wether they are Male at sun rise or Female determines there ‘ten-on’ (there role in reproduction). For in fact the twin folk are not 2 sexes but 4: day male, day female, night male, and night female. They are both egg laying AND live birthing and each gender gets to choose its twins mate for it ( a purely cultural construct but an apparently efficent one). The twins dont have to have the same twin pair as their mates allowing up to 4 possible parents of any set of twins. There can be an ‘delay’ period for which ever gender has the body at the time if they wish to postpone switching over the body, but since there is a commonality of memory and somewhat of personality the only reason to delay is usually biological. In actuallity although there is some significant personality change in addition to the physical changes other species believe that the personality in the 'shared' body is the actually the same but the Ellygems claim diffrently. The physical and mental changes that take place during their daily changes usually happen quickly and can change things like strength dexterity and porpotions to a minor extent
The day male fertilizes the night females externally laid egg, and the night male quickens the day females implantation of said egg. Each egg divides into twins after quickening and will be born within about 8 lunar cycles, small and helpless the newborns feed on both milk that can be expressed by any of the genders of age of maturity and regurgitated food as well (there is an instinctive feeling that Ellygems have that allows them to know when food has been processed enough to feed to their species infants). Puberty is hit after about 20 years.
In conflicts they set traps, utilize terrain, and when cornered will favor slings and thrown spears, and occassionally will charge with horned helms and shields. They are unexpectedly quick and dextrous for their build.
They are wise in the ways of agriculture and tend to be peaceful pastoralist. Other races claim that twin folk can more than double the out put of a field. They prefer cool and temperet enviroments with a mix of tree cover and open fields and a nearby source of clean drinking water.
They get along with all other civilized races and often are found living along side them, and when in their own communities they will build small earth sheltered community buildings into the sides of hills and set aside a specific area for the big guests they enjoy hosting.
Ellygems embrace any excuse to hold a feast- and will gladly invite neighbors or guests to share.

This race is playable as a PC race only with special GM permission (and a great back ground story).

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Johnny Angel

I do realize that I could have bookmarked the thread, but I'm not always using the same computer, so, at the time, it was easier for me to just make the thread more visible so as to make it easier for me to find when I got back online.

You can also subscribe to a thread then later search for threads you subscribed to and find it that way regardless of which computer your logging in on.

[kingaruther11]

Originally Posted by D10

I have a race of half lycans that I didnt quite convert to gurps yet, but its guys that would resemble sabertooth in the wolverine movie.
Furry hair, sharp claws, fast strong and can grow more bestial for fatigue I guess.

Ironically they lived in peace with scattered tribes of norse man fighting the orcish hordes like their lycan forefathers did before them.

hey im creating a game got anything else about your race if you dont mind me using the race

[Johnny Angel]

I hadn't realized that someone had brought this thread back from the dead. It's strange to read some of the threads I started a few years ago. My outlook on a lot of things and my level of proficiency with the game has changed.


I still think the question I posted in the post to start this thread is an interesting one, and one which is worth asking again.

[kingaruther11]

im creating a fantasy game and i need some ideas for races have few races

raccoogles-which is a raccoon race

fithra-which is a fox-like race

and vampgoyles which is a vampire gargoyle rgace

[simply Nathan]

Originally Posted by kingaruther11

raccoogles-which is a raccoon race

Raccoogle[6]
Fur[1], Blunt Claws[3], Sharp Teeth[1], High Manual Dexterity 1[5], Night Vision 3[3], Trickster(15)[-7]

Originally Posted by kingaruther11

fithra-which is a fox-like race

Fithra[20]
Fur[1], Blunt Claws[3], Sharp Teeth[1], Discriminatory Smell[15]



If you want them to be unusually small, weak, smart, or anything else go ahead and edit from here, but this covers most of the stuff I can think of off the top of my head.

[combatmedic]

Several forumites did work on new races/species for the now defunct (anybody else with time to revive it, feel free) Vote up a Fantasy Setting.

[combatmedic]

Originally Posted by Anders

I sketched a race of Dwarves who didn't use sexual reproduction at all. Instead, they reproduced by sculpting a mini-Dwarf and breathing life into it. This made their culture different, since they had no concept of love or sexuality.

I like that. I wrote up some notes on a variant in which Dwarves mined their young out of hollows in the earth.

Dead dwarves would return to the earth and reform; but this took a long time unless the body was buried deep in the right sort of stratum.

Dwarves mined to live, rather than lived to mine.

The idea isn't wholly original, of course, but has shown up here and there in variations. I'm not sure where I drew primary inspiration.